Operation: Glory of Earth
Operation: Glory of Earth was a human campaign aim of removing the threat posed by the Inter-Planetary Alliance to Earth. Start of the War The Planetary War began on April 26th 2055 when IPA ships above the major cities of the world (London, Paris, Berlin, New York etc.) killed thousands of people many of which weren't even military personnel. Unknown to the leaders of the United Nations, IPA dropships had taken control of several places on Earth; *Grand Central Station, New York and area within 20 miles of the station *The island of Jamaica and other Caribbean islands *The Oil City in northern Mexico *Eiffel Tower, Paris and area within 26 miles of the tower *Houses of Parliament, London and area within 30 miles of the houses Small territories were also controlled by the IPA but when they were defeated they fled these territories and left the planet. Jamaica and the Caribbean A decision was made between the leaders on the 26th April to take a small area from the IPA before moving onto the larger IPA controlled territories almost as a test of their mutli-national military. From bases in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama an amphibious invasion force was assembled made up of navy destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers as well as M6 Manticores, LCACs and landing craft full of marines and army personnel. At 5am on the 27th April the amphibious force set sail in two groups; Charlie and Delta. Charlie group sailed towards Mexico to surround the Caribbean from the west while Delta group sailed towards the Atlantic to surround the Caribbean from the east. These two groups surrounding the Caribbean effectively created a blockade preventing IPA ships fleeing. At 7am the next day they began bombarding the islands aiming mainly for the beaches so as not to kill any civilians still on the islands. The bombardment lasted until 6:30am on the 30th April, designated H-Hour. The men piled into their landing craft and amphibious assault craft ready to be launched. The first wave hit the beaches of Jamaica at 6:52am and was made up of 20 Manticores, 5 landing craft and 6 LCACs carrying vehicles and other men. The other Caribbean islands were invaded at the same time and were under UNM control after 1 hour 13 minutes of combat. The IPA forces on Jamaica held out longer. The men got beyond the beaches at 9:16am after an additional 3 waves of amphibious assault craft. The entire Caribbean wasn't liberated until the 3rd May 2055. Grand Central Station With the invasion of the Caribbean islands a success the UNM leaders decided it was time to attack a larger target. They turned their attention to New York where IPA forces had taken control of a 20 mile radius around Grand Central Station. Army units were sent to the city via Bald Eagle helicopters to NYPD blockades surround the IPA radius. At 1:37pm on the 2nd May 2055 they broke through the blockade and advanced through the streets engaging IPA forces as they drew closer to the station. On the 3rd May news reached New York and indeed around the whole world of the victory of the Caribbean islands being liberated by the UNMC (United Nations Marine Corps) by which time the army were within 1.6 miles of the station. Army officers seized this opportunity to advance on the station to; a) take advantage of the Caribbean victory and b) to catch the IPA forces controlling the station off guard Using fast attack vehicles, tanks and helicopters they pushed onwards to the station eliminating any IPA in their way. Before long they were at the door of the station. Men in the 32nd Infantry division would go in through the main entrance whilst snipers from the 19th Infantry would pick off IPA soldiers inside the building that were armed with machine guns, rocket launchers, sniper rifles and other heavy weapons that could possibly prevent the 32nd's advance. At 2pm on the 4th May the 32nd broke down the doors of Grand Central Station and were met with very light resistance. A force of 2,000 IPA soldiers made up of Gladitorians and Serpentias were defending the station but only 13 Serpentias and 19 Gladitorians surrendered and were taken prisoner. These were the first Prisoners of War (POWs) of the Planetary War. On the 5th May the President of the United States made a speech to the liberated American people stating the war would be won by the UNM and the IPA would be driven off Earth by the end of the month if the string of victories continued. His prediction would come true on 20th May. Mexico Oil City The same day the President of the US made his speech in New York, marines fresh from the Caribbean returned to Mexico to liberate an Oil City taken over by IPA forces during the battle at Grand Central Station. The City had been surrounded and taken over by Wolfations on May 3rd 2055. Realising their pincer move had worked for the invasion of the Caribbean islands, the marine commanders decided to employ this tactic again but this time using the Manticore armoured vehicle to surround the City before deploying its load of marine forces to advance through the City eliminating all resistance. On the morning of 5th May, two groups of Manticores full of marines arrived at the Mexican Oil City and began their move to surround the City. But the IPA had laid mines around the City. The Manticores, unaware of this kept pushing. Surprisingly only 3 Manticores were destroyed with only a handful of its occupants being killed. Of those that survived, they trained their Mark 24 Grenade Launchers on the City and deployed their marines. A further 17 marines were killed in the minefield surrounding the City and 9 more were killed by IPA snipers and machine guns. The rest continued through the City. 3 hours into the battle, an MQ-13 Satin UAV flying above discovered the IPA had planted a bomb in the middle of the City with enough explosive power to wip it off the map. The battle then turned into an evacuation. The main marine units in the battle were the 20th Marine and 49th Marine divisions. The 20th would focus on evacuating civilians still in the City while the 49th would deal with any resistance until either all civilians were evacuated or the bomb exploded! At 7:52pm all surviving civilians were evacuated from the City and any marines from the 49th still in the City were pulling out. 8pm, the bomb detonated with a blast radius of the Oil City and an extra half a mile. Luckily both the 20th and 49th Marines and their Manticores had pulled back a mile from the blast. Of the 3,500 Wolfations defending the City, 1,200 were killed in combat and the rest were killed in the blast. It was the first major atrocity of the war but wouldn't be the last. New players in the war F-67 Thunderclap The UNAF (United Nations Air Force) did not have a combat jet by the start of the war and were instead relying on their AH-190 Navajo attack helicopters for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. By the 26th April 2055 the F-67 was still in the testing stage and only 200 planes officially existed by May 1st. After the destruction of the Mexican Oil City on May 5th production of the Thunderclap was increased. Factories pumped out 300 Thunderclaps every 2 hours as opposed to the 140 before the Mexican Oil City destruction.The Thunderclap officially entered service on May 12th 2055. Training pilots for the Thunderclap had begun on 30th April when there were only 200 Thunderclaps but they learnt fast as the controls were simple to follow. The IPA fighter would not terrorise the skies any longer. The F-67 also spawned three other variants; *F-67B Dragonfly-aerial reconnaissance and light ground support *F-67C Sea Storm-UNNAW (United Nations Naval Aviation Wing)/carrier-borne fighter *F-67D Thunderstrike-heavy ground support/strike fighter B-98 Hyperfortress The UNAF also had no operational jet bomber. Again they relied on their helicopters for their ground attack runs or army tanks for heavy destructive firepower. The B-98 had been in development since 2042 (half way through the Second Korean War) when they realised their bombers like the B-52, B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit were outdated and unfit for service. By 2055 the UNAF had a design they liked which they put through numerous tests. The B-98 succeeded every single test. The B-98 didn't officially enter service until two days after the F-67 on May 14th 2055. The B-98 was unique in that unlike previous bombers it had different variants available to fill any and every role in the UNAF; *P-98 Sea Fortress-maritime patrol and anti-ship jet *C-98 Theseus-transport jet **AC-98 Zeus-aerial gunship *KC-98 Tanker-In-Flight Refuel Jet (IFRJ) *EC-98 Theseus-Airborne Early Warning (AEW) jet M9 Millenia Surprisingly the UNA (United Nations Army) and UNMC (United Nations Marine Corps) did not have a main battle tank. The UNMC had been using its Manticores to perform roles the tank should. Its armour was the same thickness of a regular tank but was highly mobile and able to carry marines inside it. The army on the other hand had been using its Armadillo LARVAs armed with Mark 24 Grenade Launchers or M340 50mm recoilless 'Trench Rifles' for heavy fire support. The M9 Millenia had been in development since 2048 going through multiple designs before settling on the final one. When the war began, the tank was going through the weapons testing stage to see how tough its 110mm main gun was and how much battle damage it could take. By the time the Mexican Oil City was destroyed, over 1,500 Millenias were operational. The Millenia also spawned a 'little brother' later in the war called the M9 Centuria. It was a tank destroyer tasked with destroying enemy armoured vehicles besides tanks. Eiffel Tower 10 days after the destruction of the Mexican Oil City, the UNM leaders were ready for payback. With their new F-67 Thunderclap fighter, B-98 Hyperfortress bomber and M9 Millenia main battle tank ready they advanced towards Paris, France. The IPA had control of the Eiffel Tower along with a radius 26 miles from the tower which included the water ways. The UNMC would be called in once again. From the other side of the Seine River, Marines piled into their Manticores and landing craft and crossed in enemy territory. They were met with heavy resistance from positions on the tower and in the buildings and parks surrounding it. The IPA called in its fighters but the UNAF bounced back with their new F-67s. The 56th Marine division was tasked with trying to take back the tower but they couldn't even get close to it before they were met with blistering gunfire and artillery strikes from behind the tower. A decision was made quick by the President of France to destroy the tower. This was met with disagreement from the other UNM leaders but there was no going back. A flight of F-67B Dragonflies from the 7th Tactical Fighter Wing and B-98 bombers of the 19th Bomber Wing flew towards the tower and at 2:15pm dropped their ordnance on the legs facing the Seine. 37 minutes later, the tower fell into the Seine killing 117 IPA soldiers who were still on the tower and 28 UNMC personnel. The UNM leaders promised that the tower would be rebuilt once the war was over. Before they could celebrate another victory, the UNM realised there was still one more target to take back from the IPA. Houses of Parliament The Prime Minister of Great Britain took full command of the operation to take back the Houses of Parliament just as the President of Mexico had planned the Mexican Oil City operation, the French President with the Eiffel Tower operation, the President of the USA with the Grand Central Station liberation and Prime Minister of the Caribbean with the amphibious assault at the start of the war. This time the IPA had planned ahead. Realising the UNM could cross the River Thames ont he bridges they detonated them and took control of the Tower Bridge. UNN (United Nations Navy) ships had been docked on the Isle of Sheppey and Foulness Island where the River Thames met with the English Channel. They set sail on the 16th May, a day after the Eiffel Tower was destroyed, down the River Thames towards the Houses. The convoy was made up of 2 destroyers and 4 cruisers while 38 Bald Eagles carrying army personnel flew above them. At 5:30am on the 17th May the convoy reached the Tower Bridge and landed one helicopter either end. The teams of soldiers regained control of the bridge and the convoy continued up the river. At 7:57am the convoy finally reached the Houses and began bombarding the area around it after receiving intel that no civilians were within the 30 mile radius around the Houses that the IPA controlled. The soldiers on the helicopters rapelled down ropes onto the roof of the Houses and using explosive charges and TAS-A15 and pump action shotguns breached the building. IPA mortars from within the Houses began firing on the UNN ships causing minor damage and killing a total of 13 navy personnel and on board marines. In a bid to stop the UNA advancing through the Houses the IPA destroyed a section of it but the UNA flanked around and killed them. On the 19th May 94 out of the force of 1,400 IPA surrendered to the UNM. End While clean up operations began all over the world, the IPA fled the planet on 20th May. Any remaining IPA on the planet were either killed or taken prisoner. Plans already were set in motion for a retaliation operation and to take the war to the home planets of the members of the IPA. Category:Military Operations